Grappling with the Future
by boswifedeb
Summary: While pursuing a new relationship with CJ, Matt is called in to help the LAPD on the kidnapping of a young girl by a mysterious masked man. Occurs after Season 3. Not my characters, just borrowing them for a little while. Rated T for violence.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Matt woke up to the phone ringing next to his head. He looked at the clock: 5:00 am. _This better be good_ he thought to himself as he picked up the receiver.

"Houston" he managed to get out with a yawn.

"Houston, I know it's early but I need your help." Michael Hoyt was a lieutenant with the LAPD who nowadays counted himself among one of Houston's friends. Their relationship had started out extremely rocky at first, but now they counted on each other.

"What's goin' on, Hoyt?" Houston sat up on the edge of the bed rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"There's been a kidnapping. An 11-year-old girl. You may have heard of the parents: Jeff and Theresa Saunders. Wealthy. He's a stockbroker and she's a pediatrician. We've got video from their security cameras. You're not going to believe it." Hoyt sounded as tired as Matt had ever heard him.

"Okay, let me get some clothes on and I'll meet you." He took down the address. "I'll be there in about twenty minutes. Bye." Houston put on a pair of jeans, a white button-down collar shirt and a pair of boots. As he started to leave the house, he turned back. He had a bad feeling. He went back to the bedroom and retrieved his gun and a couple of extra clips.

As he drove up the street looking for the address that Hoyt had given him, it wasn't hard to spot: police cars, crime scene investigator vans, and something Houston wasn't hoping to see. The van from the medical examiner's office was parked at the end of the sidewalk.

Michael Hoyt was waiting for him next to the ME's van. "Sorry to drag you out of the bed so early, but I've got a feeling we're going to need your help." Hoyt shook hands with the private investigator, thinking back to when they had first met. In those days, he was tired of hearing "Houston and Novelli would have handled it like this", and "Novelli said it was okay for Houston to look at files." He had a hard time living in the shadow of Vince Novelli for a few months after he was medically discharged from the force after a shooting. That shooting, of which Houston had been a part, had changed Novelli's life drastically: he was now missing his spleen and was also a diabetic due to the damage from the bullets. He and his family had picked up and moved to Hawaii where they now operated the family business, a restaurant started by Mama Novelli, Vince's mother.

"So what have you got on video that's so hard to believe?" Houston walked with him into the home and into what appeared to be the home office belonging to one of the residents. "Sanchez, pull up that security footage for Houston." Hoyt rubbed the back of his neck.

On the computer's monitor, Houston could see feeds from four different cameras located on the property. Camera 1 was covering the front door, camera 2 the back door, camera 3 the east side of the house, and camera 4 the west side. Houston watched as a very large figure showed on camera 3, and looked around. "Okay, is it the camera angle or is this guy really that big?" Houston estimated him to be over seven feet tall.

"He's that big. Near as we can figure, at least seven feet." Hoyt was clearly stressed.

"Can we get a closer look at his face?" Houston leaned closer as Sanchez isolated the frame where the suspect's face was more in focus. "Okay, he's got some kind of a mask on. Not your typical ski mask. Looks like one of those that the wrestlers from Mexico wear – a luchador mask. Maybe we can get a copy of this to some of the manufacturers, see if they know where this particular style came from and who bought it."

"Okay. Sanchez, take care of that for us." Sanchez took a screen shot of the mask and put it on a flash drive. "Now watch what this guy does." Hoyt stepped back to give Houston room to get closer.

"Uh huh, yeah, that's hard to believe alright." With his bare hands, the suspect ripped the phone lines completely out of the box attached to the side of the house. He then shoved the door with his shoulder, splintering the frame around it. Then he disappeared from the camera view, to reappear a couple of moments later carrying what appeared to be a girl wrapped in a blanket. "Looks like she's fighting him." Houston watched as both ends of the blanket moved. "Do we have a picture of the girl?" Matt turned to Hoyt who handed him a 4 x 6 of a pretty little blonde-haired girl. "What about the parents?"

Hoyt shook his head. "Both are dead. There's no sign of any weapon being used. Both of them have broken necks."

"Not hard to believe at all after seeing the size of this guy." Houston followed Hoyt to the master bedroom. "God." He expected it not to be pretty, but this was beyond anything he had imagined. Both of them were lying on the floor, in what should have been a face-down position, but their necks had been so badly broken that they were now facing up.

"What do we know about the parents? Any enemies?" He turned to Hoyt. Looking as though he wanted to throw up, Hoyt started back out of the bedroom shaking his head. "Not that we know about. All we know so far is that the man has a brother down in San Diego. We haven't found anything yet about the lady's side of the family." Hoyt had his hands stuffed into his pockets. Matt followed him down the hallway to what appeared to be the room of the little girl. Nothing looked out of place here, except that the bedspread was missing from the canopy bed. Pictures of unicorns and princesses were painted on the walls. Dolls and stuffed animals lined the shelves. On the nightstand next to the bed was a photograph from happier times: the family of three on a merry-go-round at an amusement park.

"Well, it's not much to go on." Houston looked around the room again. Hoyt rubbed his temples and looked up at Houston. "We've put out an APB and an Amber Alert with a description of the suspect and the girl. Her name is Haley Marie Saunders, by the way." Both heard raised voices coming from the other end of the house, and one voice in particular moved Matt to open a couple of buttons on his shirt and put the picture of Haley inside under his left arm. Hoyt saw the move and grinned. "Some things never change, huh p.i.?" "I have no idea what you're referring to, Lieutenant." Houston suppressed a smile as Floyd Hooten came storming back to the bedroom where the two were standing.

"I want this guy outta here, NOW!" Hooten pointed at Houston. "We don't need any lousy amateurs involved with this case, Lieutenant. You should know better than that."

"Amateur, huh? Seems to me that Houston proved YOU to be an amateur last time we all met." Hoyt stood with his hands on his hips.

"Lieutenant, I think I've seen about enough," Matt said, walking toward the door. "Nice to see you again, J. Edgar Hooten." Matt said the last in a loud voice. With that he loped on out of the room, down the hall, and out of the front door, all the while feeling the eyes of the pompous FBI agent on him. He heard plenty of giggles and half-suppressed laughter from the LAPD officers.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

CJ stepped off of the elevator and into the lobby of Houston Investigations. "Good morning, Chris." Just then the smell of fresh-baked pastry got her attention. Chris smiled and said, "Looks like the boss got a new case early this morning. He's waiting for you."

Making her way up the steps and through the door of the office, CJ could see Matt already sitting in front of Baby, the super-computer that he used to help with his investigations. "Hiya, Boss." She walked over to the bar, poured herself a cup of coffee and grabbed what appeared to be a bear claw from a white box of pastries. "Mmph. Delicious." She walked over and sat down next to Matt on the couch.

"Well, good morning, Beautiful." Matt leaned over and gave her a light kiss on the lips. Their eyes lingered on each other. Then Matt did something he had never done before: wrapped his arms around her and planted a stronger kiss on her lips. CJ didn't object at all. For the last few weeks, both had felt something stirring between them. At first, they both tried to deny it. But when Matt had actually sat CJ down and talked to her about it, it seemed like the most logical thing in the world to both of them. They had been friends for so long, that neither of them had ever really admitted to anything even approaching a romantic thought for the other, but now it was changing. Both, as it turned out, had feelings for the other that they were afraid would ruin their friendship. Now the feelings were so strong, there was no way to deny them any longer. And neither one wanted to deny them.

As they shared that wonderful kiss, neither realized that Uncle Roy and Chris had walked in. They looked at each other, grinned and quietly tip-toed out of the office. Roy raised his voice and said "Chris, is that pastries that I'm smelling?" Matt and CJ broke off the kiss and smiled at each other.

"Well, Miz Parsons, we've got a new case. Hoyt called me early this morning and asked for some help. Here's what we've got. And I warn you, it's not easy to look at." With that, Matt pulled up pictures from the crime scene that Hoyt had delivered to him not long before.

"Oh, wow. How in the world…. That's just…incomprehensible." CJ shuddered.

"That wasn't the word that came to my mind, but you've always been a lot better at that sort of thing." Matt went on to show her the video of the suspect and the picture of the little girl.

"Okay, so I guess the best place to start is with background on the parents. We also need to find out where Haley goes to school and try to find out what we can about her." CJ started making a list.

"Hoyt is working on the suspect. That luchador mask might be able to tell us a little something about this guy. We figure he's at least seven feet tall. So when you factor in the mask, that says he might be involved in wrestling. I'm thinking we should check to see if there are any wrestlers in town that fit that description and are known for wearing a luchador mask." Houston walked over to the bar and refilled his coffee cup.

"So I guess divide and conquer is the plan for today." CJ picked up her cup and followed him to the bar.

"I'll take the wrestling angle while you run background checks. And we might want to check on the brother in San Diego." He refilled her cup and then took it from her hands and set it on the bar. "But first…." He took her in his arms again. Just then, Uncle Roy started through the door again, then did a hurried about face and went back to Chris's desk. "I'm never going to get any breakfast at this rate. But at least they've finally figured out what everyone else has always known."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

After doing a little research, Matt learned that there were three different wrestling events scheduled for that week in the Los Angeles area. As he drove out to one of the venues on his list, his mind drifted back to CJ and the conversation they had shared a few weeks ago.

Matt laughed to himself when he thought about how he had waited until Uncle Roy and Chris had left for the day. All day long he had tried to talk to CJ about how he felt, but every single time either someone walked in, the phone rang, or he just couldn't get his mouth to get started. When the office was empty except for the two of them, they had grabbed a couple of bottles of root beer out of the fridge, walked out on the patio, and sat down next to each other.

He remembered taking a big breath. Then when he started talking, it all came out. Looking back now, he was rather proud of himself. Talking, especially about feelings, had never been his strong suit, but somehow he had gotten his point across to her. After he said what he had to say, he looked her right in the eye. She exhaled the breath she had been holding since he started talking and smiled. When he saw that, he knew everything was going to be okay. She then admitted that she had felt the same way for years, but was also afraid of losing her best friend, just as he had been. Now it seemed that both of them had matured enough to finally come to the realization that plenty of people had tried to point out to them over the years: they belonged together, not just as friends and business partners, but partners in life. Since they had both admitted their feelings for one another, Matt had felt a sense of happiness that, up until that point in his life, he had never felt. Everything just seemed to be falling into place.

_Okay, enough of that for right now, Mattlock, start working the case. _Matt thought to himself as he parked in the rough looking parking lot at the first venue on his list, a run-down gym in a rough part of town. As he got out of his truck, he looked around him. There were a lot of buildings in this section of town that were now vacant.

He walked through the front door and was looking for the manager. "Hello" he called out a couple of times, but received no answer. There were four other vehicles in the parking lot, so he was pretty sure that someone was there. He began to walk around the gym, looking for someone to talk to about the event.

He walked through stacks of chairs and up to the ring that was in the center of the gym. It, like the rest of the building, had seen better days. The ropes on the ring were dirty and worn looking, as was the apron that covered the lower edges. The covers on the turnbuckles appeared to have received a lot of abuse. Just as he started to make his way on around the ring, a booming voice spoke: "Nobody ain't s'posed to be in here, mister. Get to gettin'." He looked around and saw a small older man who looked about as woebegone as the rest of the place.

Matt walked over to the man, stuck out his hand and smiled as he said, "Hi there. My name's Matt Houston and I was wondering if I could ask you a couple of questions."

The man just looked at him, then muttered "What part of nobody ain't s'posed to be in here didja not unnerstand?"

Matt had dealt with many a person like this one through the years, and the easiest way to get what he wanted had been to pay for it.

"Does Mr. Franklin need to leave, too?" he asked, pulling a one hundred dollar bill out of his pants pocket. This had the desired effect: a nearly toothless grin soon followed by a grabbing motion. Matt was quicker though, and held the money just out of reach.

"Need a couple of questions answered first. I'm looking for a fella that might be coming into some money. He's a real tall guy, about seven feet tall. I think he's a wrestler. You know anybody like that around here?" Matt kept a friendly tone.

The old man laughed. "No, sir, just about ever one of the guys that comes here is six foot or under. All think they're goin' to be the next big wrasslin' star. Buncha losers is what they are. Don't wanna pay their dues so I can keep this place up."

"Okay," Matt said, handing him the bill and one of his business cards. "Here's my card. How 'bout you give me a call if anybody like that shows up. There'll be a couple more Franklins in it for you."

"Yessir! I'd be happy to!" The old fellow took the bill and held it up to the dingy sunlight drifting through the windows. "Have a nice day!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Hey, found out anything yet?" Houston was on his way to the next place on his list when CJ called him.

"Not much. Uncle Roy is working on the brother in San Diego. I've been trying to find out more about Theresa Saunders, but there just isn't much there. Her maiden name was Mercado, and she graduated from UCLA. She interned at a hospital here in the city and now has a partnership with two other doctors. Seems that they just got married and are out of the country on a honeymoon." She smiled when she told him that last part.

"Aha. Well, that eliminates two suspects I guess. Where did they go, just out of curiosity?" Matt was also smiling.

"Tahiti." CJ could tell by his voice that he was smiling.

"Ahhh, I see." _Not a bad idea_ he thought to himself.

"What about Uncle Roy and the brother? Has he found out anything yet?" He stopped at a light. Two more blocks to go before he reached the second venue.

"Yes. He says the brother seemed to be genuinely upset. He had already been contacted by Hoyt apparently. Roy doesn't think there's anything there to implicate him. He's gone to Haley's school to see if he can find anything." She double checked her notes. "That's about it from here. Just thought I would catch you up. Any luck with you?"

"No, not yet. I'm almost to the second place on my list. I'll call you when I get finished. And CJ? I love you." There, he had gotten it out without stumbling all over himself.

"Love you, too. Be careful." She hung up the phone and found herself thinking that Tahiti really did seem like a good place.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Roy Houston had spent most of his life working for the CIA, which he usually referred to as "the company." He didn't miss many tricks and Matt was grateful to have talked him into working with him these days.

As Roy walked up the sidewalk to the school, he was approached by a security guard. "Can I help you with something, Sir?" The guard blocked his path to the front door.

"As a matter of fact, young man, you might be the very person who can help me." Roy gave him his most encouraging smile, which seemed to loosen the guard up a bit. "I'm investigating the kidnapping of a student here, and was wondering if you had seen anyone suspicious in your surveillance of the area." He showed his investigators license which just happened to be located in his wallet so that his ID that showed him to be a retired CIA agent was visible.

The guard was obviously impressed by his credentials. "Yes sir, the police were here earlier with some FBI guy." The last was delivered with a bit of distaste. Roy nodded his head in a sympathetic and understanding way. "The principal, Mrs. Waters spoke with them. I'm not sure what she told them, but I saw a guy watching the kids as they got out of school yesterday. These days you just don't know about people."

Roy nodded again. "So what did this fella look like?"

"Well, that's what got my attention. He was huge. I'm not sure how tall he was since he was sitting in a car but he looked like he just barely fit. It was a Chrysler. One of those 300's, dark gray. Didn't get a plate number. When I started over that way he took off. "The guard looked a little embarrassed. "I didn't say anything to Mrs. Waters, because, well… she thinks I'm a little overzealous sometimes. But I'm just trying to do a good job, you know?"

"I completely understand. Does the school have any surveillance cameras that might have caught a picture of this guy?" Roy was feeling more hopeful than he had all day.

"Yes, sir. Come on in we'll take a look." He led the way.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Matt hadn't had any luck at the second venue that he stopped to check out. But the third was an entirely different matter.

As soon as he walked in, Matt had a feeling that things were about to get interesting. As he made his way down through the seats in the auditorium, he was being watched by two men. Neither looked happy to see a stranger.

Over the years, Houston had found out several investigating techniques that often worked. Like sometimes playing a dumb hick can be very helpful. He plastered on his most winning, aw shucks, country boy smile. He held out his hand as he approached the two men. "Hidy, y'all. My name's Billy Joe Mattlock. I was wondering if y'all could help me out. This feller up town hired me to find some guy that's supposed to be getting a lot of money from his uncle that passed away. Said he might be working here as a wrassler. But dang if I can remember the fella's name. They guy told me he's a biggun, 'bout seven foot tall. Dang, can't believe I plumb forgot his name."

"Nope. Nobody here like that." One of the men took a step forward. "Time to leave, hayseed."

Just over the man's shoulder Houston saw an extremely tall man who stopped in his tracks when he heard the description. He abruptly turned and took off. Matt pushed the man aside and gave chase. He saw the giant go through a door labeled "locker room". He followed and soon came to a halt. There were three rather large gentlemen who seemed to be waiting for him.

One of the three reached out and grabbed Matt by the collar, lifting him up until his feet were no longer touching the floor. Matt used both hands and squarely hit his ears, causing him to drop his quarry. He scrambled to his feet and dodged past the guy, only to be met with a swing from a beefy right hand belonging to the second man. Ducking quickly, he swerved around the massive man and threw him off balance. He kept running until he was tackled from behind by the third mammoth. Tackling was nothing new for Houston, who had been a winning quarterback since being old enough to play in the Pee Wee League. He quickly recovered his feet and took off again, running straight back through the locker room. Just as he rounded the last row of lockers, he saw a door closing. He hit the door running, just in time to see a dark gray Chrysler 300 speeding out of the parking lot.

Matt ran to his truck and took off after the Chrysler. The car ran through a red light at the next intersection causing a massive pile up. Houston pounded his hand on the steering wheel. There was no way to catch up to the guy.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The moment he stepped off the elevator and headed into the office, CJ could tell Matt was boiling mad. His eyes, normally relaxed with a twinkle of mischief in them were hard and cold. The gash on the side of his head didn't make him look any happier.

"You okay?" She walked over to the bar where he was pulling a cold drink out of the fridge.

"Not really. I just lost the big guy from the surveillance video. He caused a traffic pile up and there was no way to go after him. I may have just cost that little girl her life." Houston was clearly upset.

"Did he happen to be driving a dark gray Chrysler 300?" Uncle Roy's familiar voice preceded him through the office door.

"How did you know?" Matt was astounded.

"Oh, years and years of training and hard work at the company. Actually, a very conscientious security guard at the school noticed him yesterday afternoon and gave me a print out. It even shows the license plate." Roy was smiling like a possum. "I called Lt. Hoyt and gave him the number. He said he was on his way over and would let us know who it belongs to when he gets here."

"Which I just did. Who'd you get into a fight with, Houston?" Hoyt was looking at the man and his bleeding face.

"How did you know?" Matt replied.

"It seems there's an echo in here. Did you catch it, CJ?" Roy was obviously having a good day.

"Years and years of training, p.i. Plus you've got blood on your face." The lieutenant was enjoying having fun at Houston's expense.

"Why don't we all go downstairs so we can compare notes while I get this guy cleaned up?" CJ grabbed Matt's arm and headed for the stairs down to the gym. The others followed. As Matt was cleaned up and bandaged by CJ, the three men pooled their information.

"The car comes back registered to, of all things, an amusement park about 40 miles away." Hoyt gave his final piece of information.

"Wait a minute. There was a picture of the girl and her parents on a merry-go-round, remember? That's kind of an odd coincidence isn't it?" Houston got up and walked over to the closet. He reached in and grabbed a blue shirt and changed, since the white shirt he had been wearing was now smeared with blood.

"I believe we need to pay a visit to this park. Who owns it, anyway?" he asked Hoyt.

"The Medina brothers." All four exchanged glances. The Medina brothers were known for their businesses that dealt with drugs and prostitution, as well as their ties to professional wrestling.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Houston, we're supposed to work together, okay? Don't forget we're out there and try to take the guy down all by yourself. All you have to do is go in and give us a heads up when you lay eyes on him." Hoyt adjusted the wire on Houston's chest as he went over the rules for the third time.

"Hoyt, I heard you the first two times you said it." Matt buttoned up his shirt.

"I found it!" CJ came bounding down the stairs to the gym. "I found the connection between Theresa Saunders and the Medinas!" She missed the last step and started to fall but Houston reached out, caught her, and put her back on her feet. "Thanks. Now, here it is: Theresa Saunders maiden name was Mercado. It turns out that her mother was a Medina before she married Antonio Mercado."

"Well, that does explain the connection, but why kidnap the girl? She's family." Houston looked at Hoyt. "And why kill Theresa. If they were trying for leverage against her, they had it by taking the girl. Dead, Theresa is of no use to them."

"Maybe they're using her for leverage on another family member?" Uncle Roy suggested.

"You know, there is a third Medina brother. He's not in the family business, and doesn't have any dealings with them at all. He's an executive with the MedPharma Group. Why didn't I think of this when …" Hoyt just shook his head. "They must be trying to get a direct pipeline from the pharmaceutical company straight to them. Discount drugs, so to speak."

"Probably because you've got your mind on about a dozen other cases, Michael." CJ patted him on the shoulder.

"Okay, so now we know why she's been kidnapped more than likely. Let's see if we can find her and get her away from these scumbags." Houston checked his pistol and headed up the stairs.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

As he walked through the admission gate of the park, Houston started scanning the crowd. One thing worked in his favor: a seven foot tall guy was going to stand out even in a crowd. The thought had occurred to Hoyt and himself that they might keep the girl happy and occupied at the amusement park.

He stopped and bought a bag of popcorn to try to blend in with the crowd a little better. _Where in the hell should I look! _ He thought of the picture in Haley's room: it had been taken on a merry-go-round so that would be a place to start.

As he got near the ride, he saw Haley: there she was, right in the very place he was hoping to find her. Just as he was about to open his mouth and tell Hoyt, the giant man appeared next to Haley and pulled her off of the horse. As the ride spun around, Houston lost sight of the two of them, but went ahead and told Hoyt of the sighting.

Running as fast as he could through the crowd, Matt made it to the other side of the merry-go-round and spied the two heading for the Sky Lift. _ Oh, great. Just what we need: more altitude _Matt thought to himself. He radioed Hoyt again giving him the update. He got to the Sky Lift station just in time to see the giant, as he was referring to the big man now, shoving ride attendants out of the way and pushing Haley into the car ahead of him. Matt noticed that the door on the car was not locked: the giant was holding it closed. Matt jumped on top of the queue line nearest him, then walked his way across, from rail to rail, to the turnstile. He jumped from the turnstile onto the back of the giant.

The wrestler grabbed Matt and threw him about 15 feet – right into a concrete column, then jumped into the car as it left the station. Matt was dazed for a few seconds and had a terrible pain in his right side, then got to his feet and stumbled into the next car. It lifted off from the station, directly behind the car that carried Haley and the giant.

Houston radioed Hoyt again and learned that they were just getting to the Sky Lift station. "We'll post men at the opposite station to wait for them!" Hoyt yelled into the radio. As the ride neared its maximum height, Matt saw the giant stick something out of the door on the car and straight up into the gears at the next approaching support pole. The ride screeched to a halt with sparks shooting out from the gears on the pole. Screams could be heard the length of the entire ride as all of the cars came to a sudden jarring stop. Matt reached for his pistol that was supposed to be in the back of his pants, but it was nowhere to be found.

Hoyt was yelling in Houston's ear again. "What the hell did you do, Houston?"

"I didn't do anything, Hoyt! The idiot stuck some kind of a rod or pole into the gears on this thing at the support pole!" _Why does he always assume that I'm at fault? _Houston asked himself.

As he watched in horror the man opened the door on the car. "We'll die together. You won't take me alive!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. Evidently he had spied the police on the ground moving to the other station.

Matt frantically searched around the car for something, anything that might give him an idea. The only thing that he could come up with was to shimmy across the cable to the car where the giant was and then…..well - he would figure that part out when he got there. The man was half hanging out of the car and was jerking little Haley around mercilessly. Houston reached down and unfastened his belt, then holding it in his teeth he grabbed hold of the top of the door with his left hand and the roof of the car with his right, then managed to stick the toe of his left boot in the bars on the window of the door, and then put the toe of his right boot on the barred windows of the car. He then threw the buckle end of his belt around the piece of metal connecting the car to the harness that carried it on the cable and climbed on top of the car.

Luck was in his favor. The giant hadn't seen any of this yet. He was too busy yelling at people on the ground and threatening Haley. Matt decided to be as careful and stealthy as possible. He put the belt around his waist and fastened it around the cable, then wrapped his legs around the cable and took off across it. He was feeling pretty good about it until he was about four feet from the car that held the giant. That's when the crazed man looked around and saw him.

As soon as he spotted Houston, the wrestler started jumping up and down, causing not only the car to bounce but the cable that Houston was clinging to as well. His hands slipped off the cable and a searing pain tore through his left knee. He grabbed the cable with his hands again and shimmied across the remaining few feet to the car. When he reached the top he thought _okay, now what?_

"Haley!" He called out to the terrified girl. "Get on the other side of the car – away from the door and hang onto the window bars!" The girl did as he told her. The giant was still standing in the door of the car jumping up and down trying to knock Matt off the top of the car. Matt wrapped his belt around the metal connector on top of the car and tried kicking the man. The giant grabbed his left ankle and started pulling him toward the edge of the roof. Matt's knee was burning with pain, but he kicked with his right foot as hard as he could and heard a loud pop come from the man's hand. With a loud growl, he turned loose of Matt's foot and looked down at his hand. This distraction was probably the best chance Matt would have, so he slid over to the side of the car and pushed the giant. He started to fall and grabbed Matt's left arm. Matt heard a sickening pop as his shoulder dislocated and a blinding pain went through his arm and shoulder. He kicked again, this time with both feet and caught the giant square in the face, knocking him away from the car. He watched as the kidnapper fell over 300 feet to his death on the hard concrete below.

Very carefully he used the barred windows as foot holds and got into the car with Haley. She threw her arms around his neck. He comforted her as best as he could as the ride ground back into service and the car slowly made its way across the cable and to the other station.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"I'm not staying in this hospital. You can just forget that!" Matt was fighting with the doctor and nurses who were trying to patch him up.

"I don't think you understand, Mr. Houston. You've got a dislocated shoulder, a badly wrenched knee, and three cracked ribs. You need lots of rest and supervision." The doctor was seriously considering knocking Houston out with a shot.

"I'll make sure he gets plenty of both, Dr. Metcalfe." Matt turned to see CJ walk into the treatment room.

"I'm sorry, Miss, only family members are allowed in the treatment rooms with patients." A nurse who looked like she started her career during the Civil War grasped CJ's arm.

"She is family." Houston looked in CJ's eyes. "That is if she'll agree to marry me." _Oh, boy, did I just say that? Yep, I did. And it's the smartest thing to ever come out of my mouth _Matt thought to himself.

"I will." CJ had the biggest smile on her face as she walked over to Houston's side and kissed him. Suddenly Matt forgot all about the pain in his body. All he could think of was Tahiti.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

A week later Houston and CJ had invited everyone up to the office for grilled steaks, including Haley and her uncle, Derek. Before Haley arrived with her uncle, everyone was discussing the case.

"So Hoyt, I never did hear: what was the wrestler's name?" Matt said, checking to make sure that the charcoal was just the right temperature.

"Marco Hernandez. He was a pro wrestler until he got caught doing steroids and was booted out of the association. Then the Medinas used him to handle all their "heavy" work." Hoyt took a sip of the beer that Matt offered him.

A few minutes later Haley and her uncle showed up. She shyly walked over to Matt. "Mr. Houston, I just wanted to thank you for everything you did." She gave Matt a big hug. "Well, you're more than welcome, darlin', I'm just glad I was able to help." Matt returned her hug.

CJ walked over to Matt. "Don't you think you need to get off that knee for a while? Remember what Dr. Metcalfe told you?"

"Well, as soon as I make a little announcement, I will. Okay folks. We've got some news: CJ and I have decided to get married!" Matt and CJ both smiled.

Roy, Hoyt and Chris, in unison all exclaimed "Well it's about damn time!"


End file.
